Construction osi railroads



A NT GFFICE.

ALEXANDER HAY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

CONSTRUCTION OF RAILROADS.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 29,693, dated August 21, 1860.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER HAY, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved lIode of Constructing Railroads; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in so constructing the track of a railway as to give it a firm support without the use of wooden cross-ties, and if desirable the stringers also may be dispensed with, and the track be supported and kept firmly in place if desired without the use of any wood whatever and at a greatly reduced cost over the present mode of constructing railroads, while a railroad constructed on my plan will be more permanent, less liable to get out of order and last longer than as at present constructed. This plan is particularly suited to the construction of city railroads as it requires the displacement of very little earth or pavement and in this respect has advantages over any mode of construction now known.

The chief feature of this invention consists in making the chairs which are now used only for holding the rails in place, also perform the office of supporting' the track, as is now done by means of crossties, by so constructing the chair that a portion of it is embedded in the earth and sustains the track, while that portion of the chair which extends above the surface of the earth holds in place the rails as usual. A chair to answer this purpose I construct by terminating that portion of it which is to be embedded in the earth in the form of a screw or in a wedge like plate or pile the upper part or head of the chair being formed with jaws or a recess for holdingthe rails as in the ordinary chair.

Figure l represents a chair on my plan the screw part of it in the form of a cone as presenting more bearing surface, while the top of it terminates in an opening with two jaws, or a slot or opening as it may be called for the purpose of receiving the rail and holding it in place. The rail here represented is the common T rail, with the base cut away and held in place in the chair by I the wedge A, presenting a very secure and of l simple fastening.

The wedge A, here represented is a piece of round iron wire which fits in and iills up the two corresponding grooves B, and C, one made in the jaw or lip ofthe chair and the corresponding one in the side of the rail. This piece of round wire is of such size as to be bent readily, and when driven in place and the ends pressed oilI from the side of the rail by a chisel or other suitable instrument, or the ends slightly bent, cannot afterward be withdrawn without being again straightened. When the rails vare rolled for this form of chair, the groove would be formed at the time of rolling them.

The jaws of the chair may extend up and fit under the head of the rail, so as to take a part of the bearing or not as desired, and the chair proper may be just above the screw or extended by lengthening that portion of the chair between the screw and chair proper so as to raise it several inches above it, so as to embed entirely the top part of the screw in the earth. If it be desirable to use rails already made, then the top of the chair must beso formed as to hold them securely in place, in some of the forms of a common chair and while in the chair above described any elastic material may be interposed between the chair and the rail. It is easy to make each chair furnish a` wooden bearing answering in this respect to a wooden crosstie. To do this let the top of the chair terminate in a rectangular or other shaped box, the top part of it with sides or jaws for holding the rails as in common chairs, while the box or recessed part is to hold a wooden block on which the rail is to rest as being more elastic than the iron chair. This box in the head of the chair may be some five or six inches diameter and as many deep and the wooden block to fit it may be firmly held in place by inserting in the end of the block of wood to be forced into the box, a secret wedge, which, on the block being driven into the box, would press open the block and securely hold it. If the bottom of the box be made slightly larger than the top, the block on being forced in, never could work out, and the wedge might be cast on the bottom of the box, projecting up a short distance, so as to expand the block, in place of using the secret wedge as above proposed. The principle of each is precisely the same, and either may be adopted.

It will be seen from this description that with the chair here proposed all the elasticity of a wooden bearing may be had while it would be so confined that it would last a long time, far longer than the cross ties would do which are embedded in the earth. Vhen stone su ports were intro duced as a foundation or railroads two or more holes were drilled in the stone, plugged up with wooden pins, and to these pins the chairs were confined, the chairs resting on the stone. This mode of constructing roads was found too unyielding and for that cause abandoned, but if the chair here proposed had been substituted for those used, the defect would have been remedied and the road made very permanent. To do this, in place of terminating` the chair in a screw or wedge shape plate to be embedded in the earth, it should have terminated in a shaft or pin of sufficient strength to be inserted in the stone and held securely as a chair, a hole being made for the purpose and the shaft or lower part of the chair should then have been wedged to the stone, the upper part of the chair supporting the wooden bearing, as described.

If the foundation on which the track is to be laid be of stone, then neither of the terminations to the chair herein described, either the screw or wedge shape plate would answer, but the chair should terminate in a shaft to be inserted in the stone after a suitable hole was drilled to receive it, and if this shaft be of wrought iron, it may be securely conned by a secret wedge as before described, or if of cast iron, it may be confined in the same way by heating the shaft before inserting it, or it may be securely fixed by pouring molten lead around the shaft in a hole suitably made to receive it as railings are secured to blocks of stone. The shaft or neck, that part supporting the chair proper, but the whole constituting the chair, may be made of any suitable length to preserve the level of the track, as where the stone foundation, is for example a foot below the required level of the track the shaft or terminus of the chair should be sufficiently strong to support the track and besides being inserted in the rock a iiange may be cast around the lower part of the shaft resting on the rock for an additional bearing, or it may be made hollow to save metal and solid at the end. The entire chair is to be securely fixed in the foundation and any required elasticity in the track is to be obtained by interposing wood, or any elastic material between the bottom of the chair and the rail as hereinbefore suggested. This chair as before stated, admits of the use of a stronger and yet lighter rail than any now known. The rail may be seven or eight inches deep, the web of it, say, one-fourth of an inch thick, without any base, the rail supported in a chair the jaws just wide enough apart to permit the rail to be placed readily in it, and the jaws of the chair extending up under the head of the rail to take a part of the bearing if desired, and between them and the head of the rail, any elastic substance may be inserted, as well asv where the web rests on the chair. The joint chairs which receive the ends of the rails, should have more bearing surface, than is required for the other. The circular wedge, or round iron pin for holding the rail in the chair being of the same size throughout, permits the rails to expand or contract or creep as it is called from the Vchanges of the weather. It will be seen from the description that although iron tie rods may be used if desired, with this chair that they are not essential to the construction of the road. The chairs being constructed and embedded as shown the track cannot spread and if stone foundations be prepared and the chairs, be inserted in blocks of stone, and these instead of being placed on the surface, of the ground be embedded some foot or morebelow it and the neck, or support of the chair be rammed solid with ballast it becomes an impossibility for the road to spread.

To construct a road I take the chairs as described above or with modifications as hereafter explained and having marked out the line of road, determine what distance apart I desire the chairs or supports for the rails to be placed, and at such points screw into the ground the chair, embedding each chair to the same level, and as low as desired, making room, if need be, for the head of the chair so that the rail only may project above the ground. The chairs here form the support for the road in place of cross-ties, as is usual, while at the same time, they being firmly embedded in the ground serve to hold the rails in place. The chairs being embedded or screwed in the ground to receive the chairs, and the line of rails, thus in the chairs and secured by wedges or bolts, as described or otherwise, as hereafter may be described. It will be seen that this mode of construction only renders it necessary in a paved street to remove the pavement, to receive the chairs, and the line of rails, thus leaving undisturbed much of the pavement which under the usual mode of constructing city railroads has to be removed.

The threads to the screw part of the chair may be of any required distance apart, and

wel

of any required depth or width, probably in general use t-he threads would be about two and a half or three inches apart, extending outward from the center of the screw about four inches or more which would give to the screw a bearing of about nine or ten inches diameter, furnishing a very solid support. The chair with its head or box may be from eighteen inches to two feet or more long, depending on the ground into which it is to be inserted and the character of road it is required to sustain. The chairs may readily be inserted by a` lever with a block fitting into the head of the chair, for screwing them in, and the wooden block if used, maybe driven into the head of the chair or forced into it by a screw with clamps catching under the head of the chair.

The above-described chair shows the principle of my invention; but it is obvious it admits of many modifications exhibiting great advantages in the construction of railroads, over any mode of construction now known.

In the construction of a road as above described, I have as yet, described no mode of tying it together, because in a city railroad it will hardly ever be required, the chairs being so firmly embedded in the streets as to render it unnecessary; Abut should this be desirable, as on curves it may be, then on or near the head of the chair, there may be cast lugs, with a hole through them for receiving a tie rod, and each chair having a hole on each side, to accommodate any position of the chair, the track may be securely tied together by iron rods or large wire, and these rods be entirely out of the way, being beneath the surface of the ground.

This mode of constructing railroads possesses great advantages in this that it permits the use of rails formed solely to sustain the greatest weight without deflection and consequently permits the use of lighter rails for the same service, than other roads. For instance, what is termed a flat bar rail, now necessarily laid on longitudinal timbers or stringers may in this mode of constructing roads be placed, for illustration, on edge, and be securely held in place, because the chair which holds it, is itself securely held in place byr being screwed into the ground. A road built on this plan permits the use of any form of rail, either cast or rolled, it only being necessary to adapt the head of the chair to the form of rail it is required to hold, provision being made in forming the head of the chair for wedging or securing the rails, there being scarcely a form of rail that cannot be securely held by wedges either of iron or wood. This form of road may be tied together as shown,

it requires ballast only around the chairs, and may be made almost independent of frost. It dispenses with the cross ties, spikes and chairs as now used, and with stringers if desired, and substitutes for all these a chair which will not rot, at a much less cost than the articles dispensed with.

The chair may be made of any length or diameter of screw, and of any desired metal; around the head of it and just below that part of it which holds the rails a flange may be made if desired in order to increase the bearing surface of the chair to any desired extent.

IVhile I have confined the foregoing description of road to a chair terminating in a screw, it is equally applicable to the chair terminating in a flat wedge like projection as before suggested. They both embody the same principle. They are so constructed as to be easily inserted in the ground, and that portion in the ground as well as the part above, form-one whole, each sustaining the weight of the track, while at the same time it holds securely the rails. This form of chair is represented in Fig. Q.. This chair is formed by terminating that part of it which enters the earth in a flat plate, say twelve inches or more long, and from six to nine wide, which is inserted parallel with the rails, and presents its Hat surface against any lateral pressure from the passing trains. F or a bearing surface for this chair, which would otherwise be pressed in the ground like a knife, there is cast a flange either rectangular or circular, just below the head of the chair or that part which holds the rail of any required size and under this flange if the earth be not suliiciently solid may be rammed a sufficient quantity of' ballast to make it so.' The chairs being properly ballasted, any lateral displacement of the track becomes almost impossible.

If it be desired, the chairs may rest on longitudinal timbers embedded in the earth ust under the head of the chairs. These chairs may be very readily inserted in the earth by using' a wedge or plate faced with steel, for making the openings to receive the chairs and may also be readily secured by cross rods of iron or stout wire on sharp curves should it become necessary as before described.

Another advantage in this form of road is that it gives greater security in this` namely, that every support of the road is a chair firmly embedded in the earth and grasping the rail; andthe chairs being substituted for cross ties, hold securely the rails at short intervals, and if a rail should break it could not be displaced, as is now often the case where the chairs are confined to the end of the rails. These chairs may be supporting a railroad track, and so formed as to be screwed or driven into the founda-l tion substantially as herein set forth. 2. The groove in the chair in combination with the groove in the rail for the purpose of Wedging the rail in place, When constructed substantially as herein described.

July 23, 1860.

ALEXANDER HAY.

Witnesses:

ANDW. J. BOSWELL, JOHN GREGORY. 

